4 Chapter Three

As Diane walked up to the front door she prayed she would find Luca home and alone. She hated that she was acting this way and wanted to laugh at herself for it. She could not shake the niggling feeling that something was amiss but convinced herself that it was her overactive actress mind that was conjuring all this up.

'How foolish will I feel when I walk in there and he is sleeping the sweetheart?' she said, to herself.

She let herself in and went straight to the bedroom so she did not see the bottle of wine or the two abandoned glasses of wine. All she could think about was crawling into bed next to the man that she loves, taking in the smell of his hair and his neck. She loved the way he smelled after his nightly shower and could not wait to surround herself with it.

What greeted her as she opened the door to the bedroom that she had slept in several times over the last year was something that shook her to the core. She had been cheated on before once or twice, she had found out at the end of the affairs but she had never actually seen them with other women and had hoped she never would. She had come to his house expecting her suspicions to be confirmed but hoping to be proven wrong.

Her boyfriend was sleeping but he had a small smile on his lips and his arms were around a woman so beautiful that she made Diane's beauty insignificant. But it was the look of contentment on his face that tore Diane up. She had watched him sleep before, while she held him, but he had never looked as happy or at peace as he did in that moment. Nor had he ever held her like he was holding that woman. He was holding her like he never wanted to let go of her.

This was a man in love. So this was what Luca looked like when he was in love? Her eyes moved once more to the woman in her man's arms. She was filled with such rage as she had never felt before. Also very deep sorrow. How dare the woman look so comfortable in the bed and sheets that she, Diane, had picked out? When she and Luca started seeing each other, she had slept over twice before she told Luca that she did not want to sleep in the same bed that his other women had slept in and so they had gone to buy a new bed. Now there was another woman in it. How long has she been sleeping in her bed? Have there been others?

Diane felt the scream bubbling up from the stream of her consciousness to come out loud and high pitched.

Luca and his companion were startled awake and sat up sharply. He instinctively grabbed onto Samorena hoping to shield her from whatever that was and went cold when he realized that the source of the disturbance was Diane. He jumped out of bed and slipped on his sweats. It took Samorena a little more time to piece together the pieces of the puzzle in front of her. She grabbed the sheet to cover her upper body as Luca left the bed. Samorena looked from the beautiful woman at the foot of the bed to the equally beautiful man standing next to the woman. It slowly sunk in that the beautiful woman was one of her favorite actresses and Luca's exgirlfriend or current, she was not sure. When her brain aught up and the picture completely formed in her head she felt disgusted and started throwing up diving for the carpet.

Luca looked at his girlfriend as she stood screaming and wondered how the hell she had gotten into his house then remembered giving her his keys the last time they were together. Fuck!

'Di, I can explain.' he said.

He clenched his jaw as the most cliché words in the world left his mouth. He had always laughed when people on television immediately went for these words yet there he was adding himself to the statistics. He understood why clichés were clichés. Diane stopped screaming and stared at him. She looked like she wanted to kill him and he did not blame her one bit. Even though he wanted to calm Diane down, it was the woman in the bed that he was worried about. His hard-on had robbed him of the ability to think things through.

He should have known that Diane would come to his house but it is very difficult to think with a hard-on. He looked from one woman to the other. Diane was royally pissed and waiting for an explanation, while Sam looked confused, at first to see Diane standing in the bedroom, then disgusted when it sunk in why Diane was there. He had assumed she knew about Diane but the look on her face when she looked at him told him that she'd had no idea. He wondered how that could be.

Diane laughed derisively, 'Business meeting my ass! Last time I went to one it was in an office with clothes on!' she said.

Diane turned back to the woman who was retching all over the carpet that she had put in three months ago.

'That was expensive you stupid whore!' she spat at her.

She knew it was wrong to take the fight to the woman but she was not ready to deal with Luca and it was easier to cast the woman as seductress rather than her man as perfidious.

'Diane.' Luca began.

Samorena's first spurt of tears came and she found she could not control them. They were tears of embarrassment. She had never been with another woman's man and that was something she prided herself in. She always steered clear of taken men no matter how interested she was because she knew the pain of being cheated on and yet there she was caught in the act, and the first time it happened at that.

'What the hell are you crying for? I'm the victim here!' Diane continued.

'Oh my God! Oh my God!' Samorena muttered.

Sam could not believe she had allowed things to go as far as they did. She knew he had a girlfriend and she knew what she was doing was wrong but she had been too caught up to stop and think. Truthfully, she had not considered she would get caught as inconceivable as he was given the man she had just slept with.

All she could think about was how much she did not want to be there in that moment. She wanted, needed to run away and so she hopped out of bed in search of her dress in all her nakedness.

'Where do you think you are going? We are not done here!' Diane yelled.

She picked up Samorena's dress and flung it out through the window. 'Sit your ass back down. Nobody is going anywhere. When you spread your legs for him did you not think that this would happen? What you went on the internet, found out I was out of town and decided this was your big chance? I hate you fucking groupies!' 'Diane shut up!' Luca said.

Samorena watched in sick fascination as Diane's face turned pink and waited for the woman's head to explode. She sat back down on the bed, this time with a sheet wrapped around her body.

'What did you say to me?' Diane asked, her body pulsating with rage as she looked around for something to throw at him. She wanted to cause him physical pain. She took off one shoe and threw it at him. He dodged it with ease and approached her.

'Let's all calm down and talk about this. There is no need for this to get ugly.' he said.

'I just want to get out of here. Diane I-' Samorena tried to speak before Diane cut her off.

'Shut up! Just shut the fuck up! Not one word from you! You were caught and now you want to play victim, not very original.' Diane said.

'Diane if you want to take your anger out on someone let it be me.' Luca said.

'Of course I am going to take it out on you. You are the source after all, what did you think? That you are off the hook?' Diane raged.

As Diane continued screaming at Luca Samorena ran a hand through her hair, she was getting more and more uncomfortable. She wanted to get out of there before someone called the police and the place was overridden by paparazzi. They would be on the cover of every magazine and newspaper and, on every news outlet. The whole world would know. Her mother would find out. Her potential business partners. The reason she was in Manchester in the first place. Fear of losing everything she had worked hard for had her shooting up once more from the bed.

'Diane I have no excuse for what I have done and what I have put you through. I am embarrassed to say the least and all I can say is that I'm sorry. It's not enough and definitely not what you want to hear right now but I am.'

She grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from the closet then slipped from the room while the pair watched in disbelief.

Diane watched as Luca's eyes followed the other woman out of the room and before she could open her mouth to scream at him some more he followed her out of the room.

Luca stood immobilized as he watched Sam leave the room. As the door closed behind her he snapped out of it and followed her.

Samorena was calling a cab when Luca found her in the lounge.

'Please stay.' he said.

She finished giving the driver Luca's address and turned to face Luca astonished at what he was saying and even more so by the fact that he was standing in front of her and not in the bedroom with Diane.

'You have to let me explain.' he continued.

'Are you serious right now? You need to get back in there and talk things out with your woman not out here with me. What we did was hurtful and shameful and I am sorry I allowed things to go this far.' she said.

He stepped closer to her but she held up a hand, 'Don't come near me. I think maybe I gave you the wrong idea of me and for that I apologize. I am not a groupie, I don't go around having sex with famous people, that's not me. I thought you were different...I...' she trailed off, feeling like an idiot with every word that left her mouth.

Luca ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do and all he knew was he did not want Sam to leave. He wished he had taken her somewhere Diane would never have discovered them. Now Sam was going to walk out of his life and he was certain he would never get the chance to talk to her again. Ever. The realization was more painful than he could have ever imagined it would be. How could he explain his actions in a way that would make sense to her when it made little sense to him? He could admit that when he first met her he was only physically attracted to her but as the night progressed she spoke to something inside of him that had been long buried. She made him feel things he had never felt before and was enthralled.

The first time he and Diane made love he had left the room to get a drink while she had fallen asleep and only joined her much later when he was sure she was asleep and only a few times in their relationship had Diane woken up in his arms. Sam was different and he could not explain why. He had not wanted to let go of her from the moment he kissed her, he'd held her in his arms after, and they had just talked until they fell asleep. The only other time he had talked so much with a woman after sex was the first time he fell in love when he was eighteen. Never, since then, had he spent so much time talking to a woman; those moments were usually filled with more sex. Now he was watching her as she half faced away from him wanting with every cell in her body to be as far away from him as she could get. She probably hated him and he could not blame her for that.

He was torn between continuing to beg her to stay and letting her have her distance. Maybe in a day or two when she had cooled off he would call her and she would be more willing to listen, or maybe as soon as she was out of his house he would never get another chance to talk to her.

'At least let me drive you home.' he offered.

'I've already called a cab.' she said.

'I really wish things had turned out differently.'

'Me too.' She said quietly, 'But this is our reality.'

'It doesn't have to be.'

Sam shook her head sadly and chocked back the tears.

Diane stood in the bedroom for a moment waiting for Luca to walk back in and beg for her forgiveness. She could not understand how

Luca could leave her standing all alone like that. She is every man's dream. Many men wanted her and many more would give almost everything to have her in their lives. Yet here was the man that she loved running after another woman when she too was hurting and he was the reason that she was hurting. Who was this woman? What was going on? How long has she been in Luca's life? When had Luca fallen in love with her? There were so many questions and no answers. There was too much confusion for her to deal with. None of this made any sense. Of one thing however she was certain and it was that she still wanted Luca. He would beg for forgiveness and she would punish him but in the end she would take him back and they would have the life they were always meant to have. She was Diane Armstrong.

This other woman was nobody. There was no competition. When Luca did not immediately come back she left the room in search of him. She was fuming. She found him in the lounge with the woman. The woman was hugging her body close and half turned to the doorway. Her body language screamed that she did not want to be there. Diane gave the woman a filthy look, slapped Luca and made sure to slam the door behind her.

Luca looked mournfully in the direction of the door that Diane had slammed shut. He felt awful that the woman who loved him was hurting and yet he had spared her only a moment's thought and not the amount she deserved for giving him a year of her life. He seemed to have no say in where his attention went as all of it focused on the woman who had now turned away from him to face the door.

'You don't have to talk to me Sam but please listen to me. Diane and I have been off for months now. I fell out of love with her months ago and I have been too much of a coward to let her know. I wish I had because she deserves it and so do you. I have no excuse I just...I met you at that hospital and you enchanted me. I have never believed in love at first sight and I still don't want to believe it but how else am I to explain it?'

Samorena snorted and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The words coming out of his mouth would have put to shame many novella writers to shame.

'I know, it sounds ridiculous even to me. I have not been able to get you out from under my skin, everything about you intrigues me. I want to be around you all the time and soak up all there is about you. It was selfish of me and I know it. I should not have dragged you into my mess.

I…' he trailed off.

'I'm a grown woman and I made the decision to come back here with you. I regret it only to the extent that it hurt Diane. I have never been that selfish I just…' she trailed off as she realized she was about to mirror his words.

It could not be. Love doesn't just happen. People work to fall in love they don't meet and immediately fall for each other, it did not happen in real life. Therefore, whatever it was that they were feeling was not, could not be love. It was very intense lust. Nothing worth having has ever been built on a foundation of lust which is why this conversation was not one that should be had.

His heart leapt as he realized much as she was trying to fight it they were on the same page. His resolve strengthened and he decided he would give her time to get comfortable with what she was feeling then they would revisit this conversation.

'I have many regrets Sam but being with you is not one of them. I regret that being with you like this will leave your life more exposed than it has ever been. I would be lying to you however if I said I would have done things differently. I don't want this to be the last time I see you and I don't want you walking out of here like that. With regret hanging over your head. Tell me, what can I do?'

'You can let me walk out of here. Allow me to forgive you. We will go our separate ways and eventually we will forget about each other. Life will go on.'

Her words hurt but he understood why she felt that way and had the roles been reversed he would have left a long time ago. He wanted desperately for things to be different and knew he would have to let her be the one to decide which way to go from there.

It was difficult for Sam to hold her tears back. She wanted to beat herself silly for being so stupid as to be taken in by the fantasy. As she listened to him talk about how enchanted he had been with her she wished she was hearing those words under very different circumstances. In those circumstances she would rejoice in the words. Now they were a stabbing pain reminding her of what she could never have. Right now she did not feel like anything but a groupie. How was she different from one anyway? When news broke she would be cast as a groupie who had torn apart one of the world's favorite couples.

When the cab finally arrived she literally ran out of the house and quickly climbed into the cab. She did not look at him once because she knew if she did she would be the one begging to stay. Safe in the back of the cab she allowed the tears that she had been holding back to fall.

'You alright love?' the driver asked.

'I'm fine, thanks.'

The drive to the hotel was the longest ride of her life and she cried the whole time. She was hurt, embarrassed and felt like a horrible person for causing Diane pain. Not only had she slept with her man but said man had paid more attention to her than to Diane.

It was four in the morning and she did not expect Saone to be up so she went straight to bed and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up the next morning to the sunlight streaming in and Saone sitting on the side of her bed with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand.

'Hi!' Saone said, 'I thought you might need this. And a hug.'

Samorena tried to speak but burst into tears.

'Hey, hey, you're fine babe. You're fine.' Saone said, as she held her while she cried and let it all out.

'Sasa I have made a mess of things. I stuck my hand in shit and a sprayed it all over the walls.' Sam said, after she pulled herself together.

'Her walking in on us. You should have seen the look on her face.'

'Did she walk in while you guys were..? Did you guys..?'

'No and yes. It was after, while we were sleeping. It's bound to be in the news by now. I feel like such a...why? I should not have let you talk me into it. No, it's my fault. I should have known better.'

Saone held Sam as she started to cry again. Saone was sad to see her friend hurting so much. She could not count how many times she'd had to pick up the pieces of a failed relationship. Sasa felt bad for talking Sam into sleeping with Luca and blamed herself for the mess that Sam was in.

'Do you want to go home?' Saone asked.

Samorena snorted, 'No. We are here for business and that will not be derailed by a man.'

Saone nodded. Sam was a trooper and so was she. No matter what was going on in their lives they were able to put that aside and focus on business. Which was part of the reason they found success at such a young age.

Samorena wiped her tears away and picked herself up.

'How was your evening?' Samorena asked.

'It was great, I had a terrific love affair with Leo DiCaprio in Titanic then I went to bed.'

Samorena smiled Leo was Sasa's ultimate crush.

Later, after breakfast, they were finally ready for the media shit storm they knew was brewing outside and sat down to watch television. They checked E! Entertainment to see what the world knew. They were not surprised to find that she and Luca were doing the rounds. Neither Luca nor Diane had spoken to any of the reporters that had cornered them. Nobody, thankfully knew who she was yet but she was sure it would not be long before she was tracked to this hotel through the cab service she had used. That's where she would start if she were looking for herself. She watched in silence a clip of Luca leaving his house that morning and being asked questions about the scandal. He ignored everyone and climbed into his car and sped off, next they showed Diane arriving on set and being accosted by reporters wanting to know the same thing. She met them with the same response; not a word.

She and Saone exchanged a look; the look said that they would not be leaving the hotel room for any reason at all.

'Mommy and daddy have split up. Diane and Luca are not an item anymore. I cannot honestly remember a sadder day in my life. I lived for this couple. They were my couple goals you know, Look how cure they were.'

They showed a picture of Luca, then of Diane, then several pictures of the both of them. They looked happy and in love in all of the pictures. Sam had seen all these pictures before which was what made it harder to believe Luca's bullshit about not being in love with Diane.

'This morning I woke up to the sad news that Diane Armstrong had caught Luca Bataglia with a mystery woman. We don't know how true this is but if it is then I can assure you we are devastated. Diane and Luca made such an adorable couple. We have been unable to talk to either of them or find out any information about this mysterious woman but we are working on it and as soon as we have more information we will give you the update. Keep tuned in. Now in other news-'

'At least they don't know who I am yet.' Sam said, as she muted the television.

'Yeah.'

They both gasped when a knock sounded on the door. They looked at each other.

'Who is it?' Saone asked.

'Room service.'

'Did you order room service?' Sam asked.

'Yeah, coz I figured you wouldn't want to leave the room.'

Sasa went to open the door and it was indeed room service however there were reporters camped outside the door. As soon as the door opened cameras began to flash and reporters started asking questions. She stood there in stupefaction until the room service attendant asked her where she would like her food. She stepped aside for him and he helped keep the dozen or so men and women outside while she shut the door. She showed him where to put their food.

'We did not order paparazzi.' Sasa said, to him.

'I apologize ma'am and I assure you this has never happened before but I could not hold them off.' he said.

Angry as she was it was not the man's fault that Sam was being stalked. Sam fled to the bathroom while Saone tipped him and showed him to the door. Sam came out when Saone let her know it was safe to. She and Saone looked at each other then sank to the ground.

'I am fucked! They know who I am.' Sam said.

'Listen! We are going to go to our meeting, do our presentation, and blow their fucking socks while we smile for the cameras. That's what the hell we are going to do. We are so close to realizing our dreams and we cannot let people with cameras and recording devices derail that dream. Then when that is done we are going to clean up this scandal because that is what we do, that is why we are the top PR firm in the country. We could make the devil look like a fucking angel.' Sasa told her.

Samorena nodded and tried to believe the words that her friend was saying to her. She wished she had Saone's confidence but all she felt was panic. Before the paps had showed up to their door this had all been a distant dream. Even though she had known it would happen eventually she had allowed herself to believe that she would not be found, at least not until she had gotten the presentation over.

'Sam, stop panicking. We will be fine. We are prepared and we have been doing this for the last eight years.'

'I want to believe you Sasa but I am freaking out.'

Then the tears started to fall. Saone knew it would take a little longer for Sam to see that there was a way out of this and soon the nightmare would be over. She needed Sam to be in top shape for tomorrow. They had put a lot of resources into this and she could not have it fail for lack of trying. If they failed it would be because they were not what the investors were looking for and not because they put it a shoddy performance. She made Sam tea and helped her to the sofa. Sam drifted off into space as she sipped her tea, the tears still falling down her face.